The ABCs of Death

Rated NR123 minutes2013

Twenty-six horror/fantasy filmmakers contribute three- or four-minute shorts, each taking death as its theme and a letter of the alphabet as its inspiration. For the most part, this international anthology is a marathon of sadism, misogyny, scatology, and dismemberment, though there are a few episodes worth seeking out if you ever rent the DVD: in Ernesto Diaz Espinoza's narrative loop "C Is for Cycle," a man is attacked by his own doppelganger; in Thomas Cappelen Malling's "H Is for Hydro-Electric Diffusion," live actors romp around in bizarre costumes as an English bulldog in RAF gear and a feline stripper who turns out to be a Nazi spy; and in "Q Is for Quack," filmmaker Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett resolve to shoot a duck for their segment but wind up killing each other. Other contributors include Jason Eisener (Hobo With a Shotgun), Ti West (The Innkeepers), and Ben Wheatley (Sightseers).
ByJ.R. Jones